'Against the Constitution': Supriya Sule condemns Abhijeet Dipke's detention

Mumbai: NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule on Saturday condemned the detention of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke ahead of the outfit's scheduled protest at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, calling it "against the Constitution".

Dipke, along with CJP co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained after Delhi Police personnel entered the aircraft at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, on which they travelled from Mumbai to Delhi.

Delhi Police had earlier denied permission for the protest.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Supriya Sule said: "I strongly condemn this. A struggle is taking place in this country to uphold constitutional principles within the framework of the Constitution. People were reaching Delhi peacefully... police boarded a plane to arrest them. Tell me, what was the need for that? What was their demand? They only wanted to peacefully go to Jantar Mantar, where thousands of people gather to protest. How many times have we been there? Whether in Opposition or in power, people sit there all the time. This right was given to all of us by Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar."

"So, the way police boarded a plane to detain them in an improper manner is wrong and against the Constitution. The Constitution is being murdered," she asserted.

Sule further said: "We can't raise our demands? This is injustice being done to the youth."

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up across the National Capital Region (NCR), including border areas, in view of the protests. Indian Railways has cancelled and rescheduled several trains that were set to arrive in New Delhi, while the DMRC has shut the entry and exit of 45 Metro stations amid measures taken to stop agitators from reaching the protest venue at Jantar Mantar.

Talking about the same, the NCP-SP leader said: "I feel scared—is there an undeclared Emergency in this country? We all read about the Emergency...that was a long time ago."

"Children are scared because of all this. This is a democracy and if students want to say something here, what's wrong with it?" she questioned.

Earlier in the day, several opposition leaders, including former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP national convener and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, were detained by the police while attempting to join the protest, called by the CJP in the national capital.

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